Are you planning a trip to New Zealand? Maybe you’re a North Islander about to journey south? A local keen to see more of their backyard? Whoever you are, you’ve made a wise choice in wanting to get to know more about the South Island, it’s one of the most beautiful islands in the world after all (#1 in our opinion).
The point of this website is to guide you through the daunting amount of options so you can easily choose the right places to visit — check out these posts if you’re in a rush and want to see some of the best sights on the island (Top Lakes | Top Beaches | Top Small Towns |Top Cities, Top Rivers).
A Little About Us and This Website
Myself (Jon) and Gia met in Singapore 10 years ago. After a few years travelling the world and blogging about it we moved to Dunedin (my home town) and started this blog. That was seven years ago now. We’ve explored lots of the South Island in that time but there’s still so much to see – this is a long-term project! I work fulltime on this blog and do most of the writing, while Gia slaves away in an office while occasionally contributing posts about food.
I’m a born and bred South Islander (Timaru / Dunedin) and Gia grew up in the Philippines before moving to Singapore and then New Zealand. I remember doing trips around the South Island as a kid, but it wasn’t until I went overseas and returned that I appreciated what a beautiful place my homeland is. Seven years in and I’ve seen more of the island than most, but there’s still a lot to go.
We have three-seven day itineraries for the five major tourist towns (Wanaka | Queenstown | Dunedin | Nelson | Christchurch). Those posts cover a lot of ground, with day trips and alternate small town stay itineraries — perfect if you’re planning a trip to a place like Queenstown or Dunedin and also want to explore the wider region.
We’ve also published (or soon will) a post for pretty much every town worth visiting as a tourist in the South Island. They’ll give you a rundown of the best things to do in those places as well as tips on places to eat, drink and sleep (Lake Tekapo | Picton | Oamaru | Te Anau | Karamea.
Think of this website as an online guidebook — and a big one at that. I reckon we’ve published close to two novel’s worth of South Island travel content on here over the last seven years. A lot of posts and a lot of trips! That’s enough about us and our blog. The South Island is the focus here. The varied beauty, and the countless walking tracks, viewpoints and scenic drives that take advantage of it, is where the magic of the South Island really lies.
The Interior
The Southern Alps, a mountain range spanning nearly the entire length of the island, gives the South Island its pristine valleys, glacial lakes, gorges, waterfalls and mountain views. You’re never far from a lake or river — and with the days in summer going from 6.30am – 9.30 pm you’ve got plenty of time to explore. Inland highlights include Aoraki Mount Cook, Queenstown and Wanaka, Franz Josef and the Hakatere Conservation Park.
The whole Mountain Range is stunning though so there are places worth visiting throughout. The two places below are good examples of that. The first is Lake Hauroko. It’s right at the bottom of the South Island (deepest lake in NZ) — in the photo below you can (barely) see Foveaux Strait.
The next group of photos were taken in Nelson Lakes National Park (Lake Rotoiti and Lake Rotoroa), close to the top of the South Island. As you can see — just as stunning as anything you’ll see around Queenstown.
There’s over 900 km of road between those two places, with a lot of it having roads and walking / cycling tracks where you can easily get out and enjoy the views. As you can see in the photos below, you don’t have to walk far to get the best views!
The Coastline
Then there’s the coastline — and seeing as its the 12th largest island on Earth, there’s a lot of it. There are beaches in the north (Abel Tasman National Park) that could fit on brochures for tropical destinations like Thailand or Mexico.
The southern east coast is more rugged and windswept, but you won’t find many better examples of this kind of scenery (long white beaches, rocky headlands, giant sea birds, penguins, lighthouses. You could spend weeks exploring the Otago coastline — from Oamaru to the Catlins. ).
Dunedin is the place to go for coastal views. On the Otago Peninsula alone there’s over a dozen walks varying in length from a few minutes to a few hours. There’s heaps to do on the other side of the harbour too, including Port Chalmers and Mount Cargill. St Clair Beach is right in the city and is one of our favourite beaches in the South Island.
READ MORE: 30 of the Best Things to Do in Dunedin
The Marlborough Sounds are different again — in parts it looks a bit like driving around the Greek islands.
Then you’ve got the southern West Coast, where you’re never far from both beaches and glaciers. And further north, where you’ll find interesting rock formations (Pancake Rocks), and a short distance in from the coast you’ve got gorges, rivers, caves and mountains.
Stewart Island
Stewart Island (Rakiura) sits just below the South Island and is the third largest island in New Zealand. It’s an awesome place to visit, with heaps of walks, viewpoints and boat trips to keep you busy.
Fiordland
I purposely left the best part of the South Island for last. I’ll let the photos do the talking for Fiordland here — check out our post about the best things to do in Fiordland for more information.
Accessible Nature
You can see some of the best views without even leaving your car. There are also lots of short, wheelchair accessible walks all over the island as well as viewpoints that are less than a minute from the road.
Challenging Nature
The South Island is also good for those wanting to physically challenge themselves in nature. From walks of all difficulties and distances (you could walk the whole island on the Te Araroa Trail) to mountain bike tracks, rafting, surfing, mountain climbing, caving and pretty much anything else adventure related you could think of.
The Atmosphere
You’ll rarely see people on the less popular South Island trails if you go outside of the December / January NZ holiday season. That’s the one sustained time of year, outside of long weekends, that places get really busy, although that usually means the big cities are quieter.
The vibe varies throughout the towns and cities of the South Island. One thing is usually consistent though — the friendliness of the locals (although I may be biased on that).
Hotels and Tours
You’ll notice there are links on hotels and tours that we mention. If you click one and book something, we’ll get a cut. We chose Booking.com and Getyourguide.com because we use them ourselves and trust them. We used Booking.com for years before becoming an affiliate and Getyourguide.com has quickly become one of the most widely used trip booking sites (it’s like Booking.com for tours).
Thanks for reading our about page — if you have any questions or are interested in a tour / private driver, get in touch!
Jon Algie
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